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Monday, May 28, 2012

Editor’s Note:This is a guest post by Mackenzie U., a student of Environmental Conservation Studies. She believes in the possibility of Bigfoot and is hopeful that one day scientific methods will help prove its existence.

Last night was the splash heard around the world for Aquatic Ape Theorists in the form of Animal Planets latest creation-- “Mermaids: The Body Found”. If anybody did not know this yet, I hate to spoil it for you but Mermaids is what some would call a fake-umentary with a few strands of truth laced into the story. Yes, “The Bloop” does exist but it is literally a “bloop” sound. Yes, beached whales have been found with destroyed innards due to blunt trauma. And yes, there are cave paintings in Karoo that look like mermaids but they do not look like the ones in the show. Other than that, it is pure fiction but it did get me thinking about why the descriptions of mermaids tend to be very similar around the world. After researching many theories, I found one that makes sense. They were Amas.
The term Ama lends an air of mystery to what they are but in reality they are human deep sea divers. In Japan they are called Ama, in Korea the name is Haenyo, and some version of them are in every region that relies heavily on the sea for survival. Where this ties in with the mermaid legend is that the best ones are usually women because they are better built to endure the rigors of deep sea diving. Women tend to have more insulating body fat in critical regions of their bodies, keeping them warm in the cold oceans. Adding to the story is that many of these female divers wore minimal clothing if any at all. These women also trained hard to expand their lung capacity and to deal with decompression sickness, often making themselves hyperventilate upon resurfacing and singing loud songs while treading water between dives to keep their lungs expanded.

Now when you take into consideration societal norms that were in place during the era that these “mermaids” were encountered by sailors, it becomes easy to see why they would have thought these women to be part fish. In Europe, women were thought of as the weaker sex and even more so when heavy, hot dresses and corsets had them passing out en masse. This was also a time that a bit of ankle was naughty and a glimpse of a petticoat was their version of pornography. Now imagine what would have been going through these sailors’ minds if one day they came across a naked female diver out quite a distance from the shore, singing at the top of her lungs. That had to have been an amazing sight for these men, I would even venture to say that some may have made the error of steering close to the rocky outcrops that these women hunted their quarry in to get a better peek at the –ahem- personal floatation devices.

There is no way to tell if this theory is true, but the stories of mermaids and what is known about Amas and other deep sea divers lines up so well that it is a reasonable theory. In the end though, the purpose of Animal Planets “Mermaids” was to introduce the Aquatic Ape theory to the world and I think they were successful in their endeavor. Watching the show and researching early deep-sea divers certainly didn’t make me think that there were mermaids out there but it did make me stop and wonder for a moment about why we are so well adapted to a life with water and if these Aquatic Ape theorists were onto something.

283 comments:

I think the swiftness of the footer crowd to just assume this was true says a lot about their own personal lack of critical thinking and gullibility. Wanting magical things to be true doesn't make it so.

don't blame me, blame all yer footer buddies eating this up and posting about how "amazing" it was on another thread and then the utter hilarity of their denial when they were told it was a fake documentary!!!!

It is actually more plausible for mermaid to exist than us seeing that all life came from the ocean. Also we know relatively nothing about the ocean therefore it's is pure idiocy to say that it is impossible. Also the government would have to fine animal planet 100,000 dollars if that had faked believe in mermaids .com. Billions believe in god with little evidence why should people not beleive in something backed by science and physical evidence.

So where do the web footing of humans come in to play. Why, where does it originate from. My grandmother had very destinctive web feet. I now feel like it's possible that somewhere down the line, she was in some way, shape, or form , in relation to a "mermaid" . If only those out there with webbed feet could compare dna to that of the mermaid.. Maybe we could get some answers..

I totally agree with you, Sally. I was watching this for the first time thinking "Really? You know all that from a recording, not even half of a skull, and the few remains of a body? yeah, sure you do..." and then "Oh the government took everything from you, how convenient." Then there was the "cel phone camera video" that so called mermaid looks an awful lot like their animations... hmmmm

I believe that the ocean is way too big and we dont have the technology to explore the deepest parts of it yet. Mermaids or not, something is out there. Also when it comes to life, if you beleive we are the only planet that breathes life is purely ridiculous. There are billions of planets and galaxies upon galaxies. We are not the only ones among these planets having life on it. Just because you have not seen these Mermaids or whatever creatures that may exist in the ocean it does not mean they can't co-exist among the rest of the fish,mammals in the deep sea. Peace!

If you look at the source code for those websites it is clear that they are fake, the picture that you see is named "web-mermaids.jpg" and it is named the same on all three sites. Why would a picture of a DOJ and Homland Security block be named this. and why would all three websites be using the same picture from the same source which completely covers the screen (I duplicated the code and you can see that the image has a wrap around that makes it cover everything else on the screen). Plus the DOJ and Homeland security page would be using it's own source code that would not have anything to do with mermaids.

Shut Up Bitch!, this Bitch aint making no god damn sense, really? amas? really? that's the best logic she could come up with?documented reports of sailors saw this things in the middle of the ocean somewhere and i guess they were amas who swam there 300 miles away from land right?pure b.s., how does she explain the hunting tools found in aquatic marine life? something is out there, the seas & oceans support more life than any other place on earth, most of the waters are unexplored so anything could be out there, & i bet there is, look at the evidence such as the weapons and tools found in fish caught by fisherman.so shut up with this amas crap

You are awful, and your jejune behavior is appalling . . . calling people names you don't even know. Perhaps you should focused more on grammar and writing skills instead of your obscene vocabulary because you evidently need it. I'm sure you weren't raised to be an ignorant fool or were you?? Get a life and grow up! Finish school and make something of yourself because the world owes you nothing and only you can make your life better.

How could it be an Ama? The body would have been human and easy to identify also I read the ama were Asian not African ( the shark was in south Africa) also NOAA has a fisheries department I've found documents with Dr Paul roberston and the bottom footing said page one NOAA Fisheries Department. And I think I'll be the first person to say it if those are actors and not scientists then why do they suck at acting so bad they studder and trip over words constantly I don't think they are actors the dramatizations are. And in the end the CGI made it all look like a story cuz they put it on the end of the (fake) video the CGI mer person. The reason this bothers me is they said it was a camera phone the kids had a picture on they said nothing about a video and camera phones took just pictures before they took videos if it's from when camera phones were not common yet then they defiantly couldn't take video so the problem is we have no video that can be sure. I personally think it is all possible and the government hides so much there is no way to say it is fake because if it was real we wouldn't get to know either and regardless of anything you believe keep in mind that the big thing here is that an unknown species was heard on a recording from before tons of marine mammals were hurt. Whether it's a mermaid or some unknown species it doesn't matter we know more about the moon then the ocean we can't get down there and see every inch to know what's down there. It's very possible

How could it be an Ama? The body would have been human and easy to identify also I read the ama were Asian not African ( the shark was in south Africa) also NOAA has a fisheries department I've found documents with Dr Paul roberston and the bottom footing said page one NOAA Fisheries Department. And I think I'll be the first person to say it if those are actors and not scientists then why do they suck at acting so bad they studder and trip over words constantly I don't think they are actors the dramatizations are. And in the end the CGI made it all look like a story cuz they put it on the end of the (fake) video the CGI mer person. The reason this bothers me is they said it was a camera phone the kids had a picture on they said nothing about a video and camera phones took just pictures before they took videos if it's from when camera phones were not common yet then they defiantly couldn't take video so the problem is we have no video that can be sure. I personally think it is all possible and the government hides so much there is no way to say it is fake because if it was real we wouldn't get to know either and regardless of anything you believe keep in mind that the big thing here is that an unknown species was heard on a recording from before tons of marine mammals were hurt. Whether it's a mermaid or some unknown species it doesn't matter we know more about the moon then the ocean we can't get down there and see every inch to know what's down there. It's very possible

Well personally I agree with The Joker. The woman said the divers would sing to help their lungs but here is my point of view. Just because most of us haven't seen them does not mean they are not real. And if you go back and do research it was not mermaids that sing. They were "sirens." Most legends say their voices were hypnotic and would cause the sailors to become shipwrecked. And for you Yetti Spagetti.... I went to PUBLIC SCHOOLS and I take that comment very offensive. I graduated and did so 5 months ahead of my class. A persons education or lack thereof has nothing to do with the kind of language they use. I think you should change your name to STUCK UPPETY!

The Sirens vs. Mermaids thing and whether or not they sing is a matter of region. In Greek mythology, sirens did not enter the water but instead stayed on the rocky shores singing. If you talk to an Italian or French person though, the term Siren is synonymous with mermaid and in much of the northern European customs mermaids were said to sing.

I am a marine biologist in washington state. The beachings were real as was government involvement. most likely the cause was navy sonar as my peers in san diego believe. HOWEVER, there has never been evidence of spears stuck in fish, cave drawings as pictured, etc. a little research will show this. you can also find the actors and the fake site "taken down by gov" (with as many mermaid tags as could fit in a thesarus). thus the disclaimer you all must have failed to read at the end of the mockumentary. Oh and the bloop we believe was caused by iceburgs calving and was only recorded once in 97, NOT three as believed.

And exactly what the government wants...people not to believe....in my opinion anything the gov tries so hard to make people think of as "fake" n unreal...must be real...other wise y waste time taking down sites n Putin under investigation...anything can be real...it doesn't matter if u have a degree, doctorate..or phD you can still be ignorant...ANYTHING can be possible....

The person who wrote this has her own opinions and ideas. Those who read her explanation can agree or disagree. Its open to interpretation but I believe NO ONE here has any right to mock anyone whether you believe in mermaids or not. There's no need to shove your "opinion" down someone else's throat because at the end you don't know what is true or not. If you cant have an educated non-threatening "discussion" then simply don't comment. I don't trust the government at all and/or believe in religion and science 100%. Therefore if there is such thing as mermaids then so be it. Leave it alone in its own world. As long as it doesn't affect us in any way, IT's FINE. Sometimes it's good not to know about every little thing in our planet. And if it doesn't exist then move on, and those that can help whales from being killed.. DO SO!

I think Animal Planet crossed the line with having people pose as credible scientists for a legitimate organization telling these stories. Why have actors for the reenactments and then other actors to portray those made up scientists? If this is the extent to which the shows producers wanted to go to produce a science fiction show, they shouldn't pretend that any of it's content is true. I get that the CGI was fiction (obviously) but whatever else was fiction needs to be clear and not such a blend of reality and fakery. I feel foolish for thinking that Animal Planet had credibility and the people they have on as experts are truely such. If this was all fake then it's a pretty stupid show and I'm stupid for thinking there was more factual basis to it other than a sound "bloop."

I agree with you 100%! I'm fine if people want to present an idea in a creative way, but if it is going to be shown on a network that many people go to for *hopefully* credible information then every effort must be made to let the audience know that what they are seeing is not real.

I know; I wasted two hours of my life with this nonsense. I'm always interested in stories like this, if there is a shred of truth, like Bigfoot, etc. But this??? I'm going to write Animal Planet an email detailing my disgust and ask them for my two hours back, lol.

I always like to hear ideas and other points of view but I had hoped for better than this from Animal Planet. On the upside, it gave me a good excuse to make weird faces at blob fish pictures, read some mythology, and watch my favorite dolphin YouTube videos for a while. It was all in the name of "research", that's my story and I'm sticking to it...

It was all fake.... On my direct tv when you hit the info button while watching a program it tells you the title, program type (documentary, drama, comedy...etc) when I did this during the Mermaid show it said Science Fiction....

Ya know its a good theory good Idea they did go a little overboard by trying to make it look real rather than just give us the information and the theory. As for the websites being seized by the US Government, that didn't actually happen. Those are fake sites posted by Animal Planet more than likely with the approval of the US Government and the NOAA. If you want to see what a site looks like that is Truely Seized by the US Government go to www.megaupload.com. The Tag is gone and there is a lot more information. Again love the theory they just went a little overboard with it.

The world also needs people that resort to name-calling because they immediately assume that every innocuous comment is directed at the article and its author when perhaps it was the original crapumentary which inspired both.

You must use creative license to call yourself a doctor since you obviously cannot understand that this article was attempting to do something that any scientist would do if presented with a strange phenomena. Your lack of proper punctuation only confirms my suspicions. :)

I am astonished to learn that so many people in the bigfoot community are so...so unintelligent. I agree that this is what any scientist would do if they were addressing the question of whether mermaids truly exist. Even if I believed they were real, I would first attempt to discount all of the other possibilities. What you offered in this article is just that; a possibility.

And the fact that so many people are attacking you is ridiculous. I feel bad that I associate myself with a community with so many members who act in such a despicable manner. I know sasquatch are real, but I do not go around insulting those who don't believe, even when I get perturbed that they are basically calling me a liar when I state what I have personally observed.

There is not any room for that kind of behavior in any scientific field, even one composed of amateurs. Many of you people need to grow up. And this is coming from a 26 year old.

That is funny, because you watched it to begin with. So.....you thought that they were gonna show you real mermaids??? Seriously, you were an idiot already if you thought it was a real documentary, and if you didn't, then why would you watch it meat sack???

Has anyone considered that the documentary may be real, but that the only way the government would let it be shown is as a fake show? We know the government regularly reveals evidence of the sasquatch, why not the water ape to?

I know the author here says that the scientists are imaginary, but is that for sure or were these really NOAA scientists telling a story they claim is true? I've found conflicting information on this and really I feel like that is the central piece to the legitamacy of the show. If all the scientists are who they claim they are, then I'm intrigued. Otherwise, as I said in an earlier post, this was a stupid show and a giant waste of my time.

I looked around before writing this because I certainly would want to give credit where credit is due and I found an interview of the executive producer on the New York Post website. In the interview it talks about it being a fiction with some real life events and phenomena being blended with the story. The link to the interview is here:

I read this interview, and at one point the producer is asked about the scientists being actors and he doesn't answer whether they are or not. On a publicity site for Discovery the write up refers to scientists telling a story about a creature they claim to have performed an autopsy on. Being a Discovery site does this mean they are embellishing about these being "scientists?" I never thought I'd have to question the wording of Discovery's information, and this is what bothers me and I think bothers many other people about this show. There is so much crap on TV, people like myself tune into the Diacovery/History Channel type networks because we are interested in the truth, or at least the genuine search for the truth. This garbage is like that Lost Tapes show that was all fake, and I wish I would have made that connection before I wasted 2 hours of my life watching this. The thing is, though, is all I read before hand talked about these genuinely being scientists that really worked for the government at one time. With how this fiasco has turned out, I don't know what to make of Animal Planet now.

I watched this last night and my thoughts were the same as yours. I knew this was fake, but after watching the boys with the camera, I was convinced. Those camera phones didn't have video capability and could not have taken the "video" of the mermaid. Also, the so-called "experts" looked like actors to me. I tried to find any of their published papers, since they were all "doctors," they would have published in academic journals and couldn't find any evidence anywhere. Now, it was interesting, their timeline of ape-aquatic ape-human being transition and maybe once upon a time something as such existed, but its pure speculation. Now, I believe in Bigfoot and the paranormal and I do believe the Navy has conducted undersea weaponized sonar tests because I have been told by a Navy man this is true. The pictures of the speared big fish with strange spears, I couldn't find any evidence on the internet of these spears or a Hans Bauer.

I tried finding evidence of those spears as well, so I'm glad to know that it wasn't just me having problems. The part that I thought was rather ridiculous is how they faked the cave art to make it seem more convincing. The "mermaids" in the Karoo cave art are good without having to be faked. You can see the art at this link:

Exactly Broski, and that is what the executive producer in the interview said the goal was. I have no problem with movies and shows that take the fake-umentary route but I wish they had made it a lot more clear since it was on Animal Planet. I'm betting that people all over are going to receive tons of "Mermaids are REAL!" emails tomorrow because of this.

It's actually the #2 searched topic on Yahoo.....Personally if someone couldn't tell it was fake I want what their smoking.

It was well done in creating controversy which creates cash. I don't feel APL had to explain a single thing..... It's like that show that used found footage of people being killed by mysterious animals.

Not taking sides, but just FYI, there are at least 3 separate domain names/websites that have been seized by the department of justice and the department of homeland security since this documentary has aired. Whatever the case may be, there is some grain of truth the government doesn't want us to have.

My crystal ball is broken so I was unable to predict that you would be upset that I did not cover a conspiracy theory here. Please send me a crystal ball prior to my next post so that I predict what the comments will be so that I can address them in the original post.

I agree with your theory that I am and will likely never be important to the scientific community as the chances of any human being important outside of their circle of friends and family is very small. At least I can die happy at an old age knowing that I was important enough to you for you to take the time and insult me ;)

It's a show produced for TV for crying out loud. Any similarity to reality is purely coincidental. The way some carry on you would think it was the end of the world. Just relax and go back to watching your soap opera. :)

The thing is, this is the scientist depicted in the re-enactments. I expect re-enactments to have actors. But why have actors for the people that they say are scientists, and then different actors when they do the "re-enactments" (although it's not really a re-enactment if the events depicted never really happened).

If i was mean, i would say this show was written or produced by hippies who want the NAVY to stop using sonar because it disrupts their pretty whales and dolphins, that's if i was mean. A lot of the "evidence" showed on the show were too *filmy* anyway. As soon as i saw the hand of the beached mermaid that did it for me. It seems like it was directed by a well schooled director. Needed for most great movies, disastrous for fake-umentaries. Such as the Paranormal Activity. The shots were too perfect and experience for an amateur videographer and the WORST ending for the story. anyway.. i lose track of myself. I use to think i had shorter looking toes than everyone else even family or people shorter than me. I realized the webbings between them were higher than most. So when they talked about the aquatic ape theory i was intrigued. The ocean HAVE been a great source of food and nutrients for early humans. But there is another theory that could relate to this. It's the theory that the Native Americans did not just come from the Bering Straight. Their evidence was early and modern Native Americans had bone structures of early Asians, Africans, and Caucasians. They proposed that when vast amounts of the worlds coast was covered by thick floating colonies of seaweeds, and that early americans got to america because traveled along, and lived on them. Earliest North Americans have been found from 50k years ago. So i guess the coasts of seaweeds have been around longer. Can't provide any links of evidence atm sorry :] idk. google it. Sorry for the long post! it's almost 2 in the morn and i need to be HURD damn it ]:< cool blog. also, like yar brain.

i meant they(native americans) didnt come from the same ancestry then evolved into people who looked like whites, blacks, and asians. They came from different regions of the world based on skull structure similarities. :] hmm... i guess mexicans are just whites, blacks, and asians... (nuh uh, that's not racist at all. this science stuff.)

I'm glad you stayed up late to chime in! I haven't heard the seaweed theory before so I'm going to have to read up on it, but I know there is some similarities between the cultures in the Americas and Asia. Also, if you take a look at the human genome project being done through National Geographic, they are able to track human migration through changes in our DNA over time. It is a fascinating website to browse.

What I find interesting about the show is how you could relate this to Bigfoot and what could happen if a body is found. The misinformation campaign by the powers that be, convincing witnesses that they saw something else, even confiscating the body under a warrant that read "A discovery of national importance". I could see all this being done if a body or partial body made it into the hands of honest scientist/biologist.

Except they just showed the logos which easily could have been faked. The government is not stupid. It would not seize domain names like that as soon as a documentary came out. That would basically be advertising the "undercover operation."

When you go on limewire, there is a notice saying why the website was shut down, etc. I doubt those sites, if they ever were complete, violated any laws. Freedom of speech.

I think its quite a spooky in the sense that all of a sudden the government has seized the websites after the airing of this show. I find that a tad weird... considering that the show stated that the NAVY was trying to cover this up. It's a shame that these sonar testings are killing innocent animals. Not just one or two, but hundreds. Stop the sonar testing. To each his own, if people want to believe in big foot and mermaids and the loch ness monster... let them. let them believe. I think its a neat story, i am not saying that mermaids do infact 100% exist, but its kinda cool to think if they actually did. That millions and millions of years ago, our species did split between land and water. People are going to continue to search for mermaids, big foot and other mythological creatures. It makes for exciting tv. I can honestly say that i did watch this show the other night, it was different and interesting.

Real or fake it was an interesting show which presented the possibility of mermaids existing in our oceans. I'm sure it was shown with the intended purpose to allow viewers to make their own conclusions about such possibilities. Completely denying this idea is quite frankly the inability of simple minds to accept the idea of intelligent life outside of the human race. Its called evolution people! Animals adapt to survive...ALL ANIMALS!!(whether its for environmental, geographical or food supply purposes) Its been proven through extensive scientific research both in anthropology, paleontology, and archeology. So to deny mermaids is to deny... oh say dinosaurs and cave men. Which if that is true then all these museums around the world with said exhibits are all fake. I guess the lack of a body or skeleton of a mermaid leaves enough room for doubt so its easy to say they don't exist. Last time I checked most of our planet is covered with water and i highly doubt the are signs out there floating on the water with an arrow pointing down saying "Mermaid Cemetery". Also I find it absolutely hilarious to read comments saying "I'm always interested in stories like this, if there is a SHRED OF TRUTH, LIKE BIGFOOT, etc." yet the same author (anonymous) discredits the possible mermaid theory. That's like saying "I believe in the Tooth fairy but not the Easter bunny" that is purely hypocritical anonymous. You cant have your cake and eat it to. The only reason there is any shred of evidence to support big foot and not mermaids is that its a little harder to hide an ape man in the woods than it is to hide a mermaid in the ocean. Especially when thousands of humans world wide go camping and hiking year round. Further more it is totally naive to think that we (humans) are the only intelligent life anywhere on this plant... or on any other planet for that matter... and if that's the case then how do you genius' explain our existence cause it surely cant be just a freak accident. In regards to the comment made by sally that "Wanting magical things to be true doesn't make it so"... For example and strictly for comparison, millions of people around the world believe in god (in one form or another) so by your logic god doesn't exist. There isn't any more positive proof of mermaids existing than there is god. I mean no one has seen or had their picture taken with either of them. Now I'm not discrediting or supporting the possibility of either being real. I find it humorous how people can be so closed minded about things yet also contradict themselves at the same time be it directly or indirectly. I do agree with Mackenzie about the nature of which the show was aired and the fact that it was presented on animal planet. Although the producers may have had good intentions and the content was relevant to animals. I'm sure it would have been much better received on either the discovery or sci-fi channel. In conclusion there is still a lot about our planet and our history that is unknown and can not be 100% verified, so you people need to stop idea bashing and open your minds to new possibilities.

Not a pr stunt a site I used for gambling that gave you access to free pay per view sporting events was shut down in the same way that's how they do it I even asked a cousin of mine in homeland security who's wife works for the department of defense they really seized the site despite what you want to believe and yes I do live in the d.c. Area almost my whole neighborhood works for the governent

I remember when they shut lime wire down, it was the same thing as what u get when u try and go to believeiermaids.com. I do believe the government shut the site down but my question is why shut down a site for someone who supposedly doesn't exist?

OKAY if you think it's fake then why the hell do you think that their websites (http://mermaidsarereallive.com/ etc.) were taken down by the homeland security huh?that doesnt just happen everyday! Even I know that and I'm twelve.

Well I was very surprised that this was faked given the fact that they really made it look like the scientist were who they said they were. For what it's worth, I am a follower of the SETH material and he discusses these beings I believe it was in Unknown Reality. He said the human family did branch off, but I thought he said they actually went on into another "probable reality" which simply means they stepped over into another reality. This was published back in the 70's and can be found. He also said that they were starting to do large aqua farming in the oceans and were very successful at this as well. I truly believe that if this story is accurate, we will never hear about it from "big brother"; it may turn out to be self evident as time goes on like the UFO story which is pretty much well beyond "what if" and is now in the realm of "now what?" whenever I have been confronted with experiences which are clearly outside the "official version of reality", my philosophy has been to ask "what if it were true?" and this helps me to process the experience. All of us have to rely on ourselves to discern what is true or not. To experience paranormal reality is to never again only rely on what your senses are telling you; we are way more than what we think we are, and if you sit with this question quietly, your truth will come to you.

Two questions... How was it documented that the website was shut down by homeland security or the government? How do we know that this is not a publicity stunt, choreographed by Discovery?I would need some hard corroberation, before jumping at these theories...The whole thing seems to be a bit too "War of the Worlds", in the way it was presented and now this? If the government shut down "crypto" sites for conspiracy theories... I wouldn't be typing this.Fact is, the more we spew, the less people take these sites seriously. In affect, we do the government's job for them and they don't need to kill any sites. David from the PAC/NW

Why dont you go google dr paul robertson? Along with other's go on youtube search project avalon paul robertson attacked see that the video was seized off youtube see that the sites have been seized im so tired of you people and what you think you know . When it's in your face!! I dont beleive in mermaids but i tell you one thing some body pissed off some body . Some body is testing how far the rabbit hole go's

Lets get real people...we have a democratic president who hates our military and loves the EPA and big government. If this were true do you think he would let an opportunity like this be buried? He would be the first doing a live press conference saying he was going to decommission the Navy, sign the "Law of the Sea", and hand over the policing of our oceans to the U.N.

Then he would say that we need to increase the EPA budget and he would call it the Mermaid Tax. Last but not least he would open a new branch of government called the Bureau of Mermaid Affairs and make some big donor of his the Mermaid Czar.

Now tell me, would Obama let the opportunity to be the first world leader to officially recognize mermaids as individuals with rights slip through his fingers?

And along comes the ubiquitous asshole that finds a way to blame all the worlds problems on Obama. Where were you the previous 8 years when Bush was taking our country down a path of military imperialism and economic ruin?

So Obama is anti military because he's trying to end the wars and bring troops home, and this is a bad thing, but Bush got us into 2 wars led to an expanded military, and this is a good thing? That's some dumb-ass republican head in the sky illogical thinking at its best. It is this thinking that has dividied the nation like we haven't seen in 50 years and could lead to the ultimate downfall of our society.

And here is the booger that finds a way to think that someone is blaming the worlds problems on Obama. You just confirmed that what I said is correct, that he is anti military. Now if he is anti military, does it make sense that he would not use this to expose the sonar testing problems? You are so defensive of Obama that you do not let the light shine through.

FYI...If Bush were in office right now, then I would consider a conspiracy to hide mermaids possible. He would have a reason to keep the world from knowing, Obama doesn't.

Maybe you should consider that some people, like myself, don't trust the government regardless of party.

Raise your hand before you speak retard ! Its a cover for what really happend no one thinks the cgi was real gzzzz how dumb its whats taking place because the show sites being seized that have to do with paul robertson videos seized off of youtube about project avalon . The home land security video of the agents seizing all that shit! Was real footage it was on youtube but not anymore hmmmmmmm

Raise your hand before you speak retard ! Its a cover for what really happend no one thinks the cgi was real gzzzz how dumb its whats taking place because the show sites being seized that have to do with paul robertson videos seized off of youtube about project avalon . The home land security video of the agents seizing all that shit! Was real footage it was on youtube but not anymore hmmmmmmm

To my defense, if you were to ask me if I believe in Bigfoot I'd say no, but I do believe in the POSSIBILITY of Bigfoot. Same thing goes for mermaids. What it means is that I need more than a CGI sci-fi show to convince me.

I am actually very comfortable believing in fantastic stories or creatures as long as there is evidence to back it up. Here is a good example of a crazy story with a creature that I do BELIEVE in:

One day a man was attacked by an unknown creature biting him with its beak, slapping him with its paddle tail and injecting him with painful venom from its claw for touching its eggs. Many would probably think this is a tale of pure fiction. Amazingly though, this is a story that really could happen, it's called a platypus attack.

So this mermaid thing was by the same guy who made a dragon one a few years back. I think there definitely should have been a disclaimer saying that it was fiction in the beginning. This just triggered 8 bajillion new conspiracy theories discussed amongst idiots who couldn't figure out it was fake.

I don't know about the spears but you can always research it but we can't say without proof weather they are real or not because if you think about it the theory is believable and there is not enough evidence to disclaim it yet, so until then whatever you think could possible be true.

But since you are on this website you obviously believe in bigfoot, so just think about this theory. Even if the show was a fake, you can't deny the sightings and stories from around the world over the past few hundred years. If they're out there they're out there if not there not, I'm sure we will be able to find out in the future.

We don't know what all was real and what all was fake but I know that I have seen the video of the boys without the cgi on the end before this show and we can't ignore the historical evidence of sightings of mermaids where there wasn't the tradition of the amas and the spears and weapons found in the fish all over the world in open water and I find it offensive that public school is frowned apon when I am in highschool but I still have the views that some of some people who have not gone to public schools and have graduated from very highly noted universities We don't know the truth so don't insult people who don't have the same views as you or haven't gone to as fancy schools as you have

Thankyou and I can see from your comments that you respect other peoples views. I was directing that toward the joker or whatever he is. I will consider the possibility of any theory until it can be proven false.

I am only replying to this, although I fear the intended person above will probably never see it, because this kind of thinking can be very destructive. You should wait for evidence to support the claim instead of believing until it is negated. This is simply because you cannot disprove a negative. To find the best way to separate fact from fantasy we could all do better to look into formalized logic and Occam's razor. Gather your evidence and test it against reality. Believe it only once it passes this test and never before.

Let me ask this question for those readers that believe I am wrong about the show being fake:

How did a mermaid that swims with whales manage to survive the sonar blast (that at around 235 db is the equivalent of around 1 kiloton of TNT exploding) with no bleeding from the ears and be in fair enough health to raise itself up and scare the beejeebees out of the boy in the cellphone video?

I mean I know that the show was a fake entertained with fact but there is no possible way for the mermaid to have popped up like that and look like that when it was just face down and looked like it was starting to decompose

Entertwined with not entertained sorry and I said the show was a fake but what I meant was that it was theories explained through CGI and some false information, but don't all shows we watch today do this to make them more interesting? All in all you have to admit that whether it was real or fake, it was very entertaining

It was entertaining and well made too, credit must be given where credit is due. My problem with the show is that Animal Planet tried (and succeeded it seems by reading previous comments) to make it seem like the "real" parts were really real.

I worry that one day when the "Making of Mermaids: The Body Found" documentary comes out, people will find that they were disillusioned and they will likely not trust any shows that AP puts out in the future (including "Finding Bigfoot") and the Aquatic Ape theory will be dealing with bad PR. Even worse, should authentic evidence of mermaids be found in the future, people will not be willing to accept the evidence because they don't want to be tricked again.

People who are hoping that Bigfoot will be discovered should hope that AP doesn't try to do a "Sasquatch: The Body Found" in the same way "Mermaids" was done. It could do real damage to the advancement of the study of Bigfoot and make more of these researchers have to endure "tin foil hat" insults.

Sometimes fictions are created in order to make you think. The film Aliens left us all pressing our backs into our chairs. Something with acid for blood? And drooling? Really? Until we analyze our own blood, and pause. Now, mermaids have been presented. We all have childhood references to these aquatic versions of ourselves. We would like to believe they are mythic. But in thinking, critique of the show aside, we all should realize: That if you, your brain, can imagine it--It does, indeed, somewhere, exist.

One part that I do appreciate about the show was that it brought the Aquatic Ape theory to the general public. It will make people think about our own origins and how we became so unique. Hopefully, it will lead to a few more people being a bit more open minded to the possibility that there are great discoveries waiting to be found.

The government's fucking us over big time on everything we do. I'm pretty sure it's real. Were all here, so how the fuck can't something else be in the sea? Think about the amazing creatures we encounter each day. You believe them when they say dinosaurs are real so why can't mermaids be real. Who are you to say their not? How do we have so many drawings from different cultures? People normally draw what the eye see's...not imagines. The government hides everything from us. I'm not so sure that's something we should be proud and content with. Nobody likes a liar am I right?

I believe in dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures because if I wanted to take the time to dig them out, I can actually find evidence that they existed. I never said that mermaids absolutely do not exist, I said that this show did not make me believe in mermaids and I was just presenting a theory that could explain the phenomena. When something strange is presented to you, it is wise to look at known reasons that could explain what was seen and I was simply doing that since the show did not cover this possibility.

A good example: If you see a flash of light in the hallway, you should first check to see if a light bulb broke a filament rather than jump to the conclusion that it was a ghost or a UFO landing in the front yard.

As for the government hiding things from us, we know it happens because of what has been found through the FOIA. What is sad though is that people focus on the government being the liar and they go to the extreme, believing anything with the phrase "the government hid this from us". People need to remember that ANYBODY can lie to them.

I don't necessarily believe that the documentary or whatever-you-want-to-call-it is real, but I find the idea to be really interesting. I can believe mermaids could be real. We've explored basically 5% of the world's oceans. Also, I don't think a lot of you have thought of this, but they probably have a high enough intelligence to keep themselves hidden. A lot of you have asked why we haven't found one washed up ashore or in our nets. If they have an intelligence comparable to ours, they would have figured out to aviod our boats, nets, and shorelines. Not to mention, they would have a culture of some sort; maybe they "bury" their dead by making them sink to the ocean floor. Who knows? Maybe it's the same thing with Bigfoot. We can't count everything out!

If in fact its not true what you are saying it still dose not justify the government does hide things from us the people. when indeed being a mother i will do whatever it takes to insure their and all children in this matter a future. what kinda evil people stand back and watch children die no matter if they are yours or not. In addition to mermaids! WHOS NOT to say its real but on a real note i think everyone should be concerned with the fact things are bad right know and as you should know we should be worried whether we will have a long life or not with our families God be with all of us.

The government does hide stuff from us but in some cases it might be better. For example if some people knew that the military killed and kept some of the "fairytale creatures" for study, people may have gone out and hunted them into extinction if they are in fact real. But I do agree that the government hides and covers up to much stuff.

That's an excellent point, and I think that could hold true with Bigfoot if they do exist. I can imagine that a Bigfoot selling on the black market would be worth so much money that they would be extinct in no time. I know many people want to have their names cleared or to stop being called crazy for believing in one of these creatures but in the end it may be better for them that they always remain legends.

and as far as the joker goes you all have the nerve. to say that people that think there is a good chance its real are believing in fairy tale fisherman did make drawings many places have reports. The fact of government coverups is a real issue so while you all don't believe the story at all i think you all missed the real point to it you will all besides the people that think there could really be things we might not understand you will all just stand by and wait till its so bad its to late we the people can make a difference do the math just come on people use your brains and fight back i want my family to have a fighting chance and wish the same for all of yours too. Im not anonymous they all ready know who we are. "But they are scare our voices are better heard in numbers!"

If the scientist are "real" people I would certainly understand why they would change their names for the documentry and even have actors play them. I would'nt want anyone to know who i was if I had made such a startling discovery. I dont completey disregard the idea of mermaid actually existing because I have come to the conclusion that anything is possible. I don't know that Animal Planet actually made this film, i just know that they aired it. I read serveral people state that their guide on their TV listed that show as (drama,Sci-fi, and etc) Well a lot of shows say this in their listing. On my guide a lot of movies that are horror films are listed as comedy and so on. I would not at all be suprised if bigfoot and mermaids actually existed.

i dont think animal planet and NOAA would conspire to make documentry about something thats not real if they say they found and dicected mermaids then chances are they did this was a real documentry not a reality tv series like monsterquest or finding bigfoot obviously bigfoot or sasquach dont exist but the theroy of humans branching off and evolving into equatic beings is not that far fetched at all

WOW MAY 30TH 2012 12:38:00PM WHAT A FAGGOT FUCK GOD! THERES NO SUCH THING THE BIBLE IS A FICTION GO TO THE LYBRARY AND LOOK YOU DONT BELIEVE IN MERMAIDS OR SASQUACHES BUT YOU BELIEVE IN GOD YOUR A MORON

Have you NOT noticed that the websites provided (believeinmermaids.com) and the website of Dr. Robertson have been shot down by the government? They don't take sites down because they're fake or misleading, there are millions of sites out there that do that already. They have been taken down because these people are onto something. This was never supposed to have been leaked and they're trying to cover it up....its pretty obvious to me. There is real evidence out there, its just so out of proportion with our "reality" that people prefer to not believe in it.

Ok so the film just seemed like a bunch of hippie save the whales propaganda. Having said that they do have a very compelling theory, and I have a hard time discrediting something even a "mythical" creature like a mermaid or even big foot when they have been depicted and documented by different cultures all over the world at times when they couldn't have had contact with one another.

Okay, having read all comments, here is my take. In the video from the boys on the beach, the first clue it was faked was when they approached the body of the "merfolk". There were birds all over the skyline, but when the boy finally squats down and his friend pans the camera to his face, there is only one line of birds in the background, all flying in one place and still. Having grown up on the beaches of San Diego in my youth, I know for a fact birds do not fly in one place, even during high wind. They are always moving around for better flight patterns.

As for the constant hippie, save the whales comments, we do need to save them. They are a part of the ocean ecosystem, and if wiped out could have detrimental effects on this planet. As with all sea life it is a balance of predator and prey that is all symbiotic of one another.

Now, do I believe in mermaids or the possibility? Yes, I do. If they are a branch of humanity, as is theorized, then they would be as intelligent as ourselves and could remain hidden in the depths of the sea, avoiding the land dwellers who are constantly at war with one another. I am not saying, definitively, that they exist, but that the possibility is there. And if so, then they would be invaluable in helping us to understand the languages of dolphins and whales and understanding the depths of those animals and their intellect.

One person stated the God dynamic. It is true. I have never seen God, or the higher power as it is known in various names and depictions. But FAITH is the belief in something beyond what you can see or observe openly. I have FAITH that there are still animals on this planet that have yet to be discovered, or hybrids that are coming about and will be classified as new life when discovered. Just recently an Australian scientist discovered a new species of tarantula by merely walking the jungles and catching it. So, the possibilities are there.

I believe in UFO's because I have seen them, I believe in ghosts and spirits because I have seen them. So, to believe in Bigfoot or a race of aquatic Humans is possible, and it is possible that they do actually exist. The film gave us a tantalizing look into our own evolution, at the possibility of another branch of humanity having survived. I agree that they went about it the wrong way, and should have stated in some form or fashion that this was all hypothetical and only taken from a "few" eyewitness accounts. Animal Planet, like any other TV conglomerate, is going to air things to make money, bottom line. And look at us now, all debating the truth and the myths. Isn't that the reason networks like AP actually air what they do? To make us think? Well, on this occasion, it worked.

Believe what you want to believe, research what you feel is right, but please don't stomp all over another person because they have questions or make comments you find ridiculous. We are all individuals, with no two people thinking exactly alike. As a supposedly intelligent species we need to delve into truth and science to unlock the mysteries and superstitions we have come to find in our cultures around the world. Thanks for reading, and blessed be.

No. You dont understand. Those cave paintings are understandbly not amas. You don't see Human deep sea divers with tails now do you? Ama's dove in shallow waters. The earlier human relatives either drew "Exactly" what they saw, or dreamt themselves with humen abdoments and fish tails. You're wrong. And Dr. Robertson is real. I promise he's not imaginary. My Marine Biology class acually studied him and Dr. McCormick. They're indeed real scientist for NOAA.

I believe the possibility of them existing is definitely there. There's a type of ape that was just found pretty recently, three years ago. There are only a few (three I believe) captured videos of it's existence. They're extremely illusive, and although not as intelligent as we supposedly are, were smart enough to hide from us for many many years. The majority of the ocean hasn't been explored, remember the giant squid? They supposedly were made up by the sailors as well. Although I have no doubt that most of the stories of mermaids, big foot, etc have been greatly exaggerated, I believe that they very well could exist, but maybe not in the way they're described. Some scientist (the one who helped to discover those illusive apes I mentioned earlier) says that she always listens to natives because there is some truth to what ever stories they say. All those accounts of "mermaids" have some form of truth, albeit may not be the fantastical one we would like for it to be. However much of this is fake is ultimately something Animal Planet, and their "scientists" only know. I hope they are real, because they're pretty amazing, in my opinion. On reading Animal Planets disclaimer it does only say that two of these events are real (the ones she outlines). That means that everything else could have been exaggerated,and stretched until the "true" story morphs into a lie. Regardless, I do like the aquatic ape theory and found it extremely interesting. Whether it is true or not is unknown, but it could have. That to me is what makes it so interesting.

I believe the possibility of them existing is definitely there. There's a type of ape that was just found pretty recently, three years ago. There are only a few (three I believe) captured videos of it's existence. They're extremely illusive, and although not as intelligent as we supposedly are, were smart enough to hide from us for many many years. The majority of the ocean hasn't been explored, remember the giant squid? They supposedly were made up by the sailors as well. Although I have no doubt that most of the stories of mermaids, big foot, etc have been greatly exaggerated, I believe that they very well could exist, but maybe not in the way they're described. Some scientist (the one who helped to discover those illusive apes I mentioned earlier) says that she always listens to natives because there is some truth to what ever stories they say. All those accounts of "mermaids" have some form of truth, albeit may not be the fantastical one we would like for it to be. However much of this is fake is ultimately something Animal Planet, and their "scientists" only know. I hope they are real, because they're pretty amazing, in my opinion. On reading Animal Planets disclaimer it does only say that two of these events are real (the ones she outlines). That means that everything else could have been exaggerated,and stretched until the "true" story morphs into a lie. Regardless, I do like the aquatic ape theory and found it extremely interesting. Whether it is true or not is unknown, but it could have. That to me is what makes it so interesting.

I think this was an interesting theory. I felt is was closer to believable then most theories I have heard about mermaids. I am disappointed with Animal Planet as well. I spent some time looking for this Dr. Paul Robertson, and he doesn't seem to exist with NOAA. I find it very possible that there could be mermaids. Just as I believe there is Bigfoot and other creatures that are good at staying hidden. The ocean is huge and deep the possibilities are endless as to what could be hiding in it's depths. My issue with the whole theory of evolution from ape to mermaid is it seems too much...I mean ape to human seems a much easier transition. At least in my opinion, might I add. However the transition from ape to mermaid just seems too much. Granted I am not a scientist! Actually I'm a graphic designer, so this is just all a theory on my part. Honestly anything is possible. That being said, evolution from ape to mermaid seems a bit far fetched. So I would think that mermaids weren't evolved, I believe they are just an undiscovered species they probably evolved from something, but it doesn't have to be from apes. They could very well have been created just like any other creature was. I vary between evolution and that we were created. When I mean created I don't just go straight for the Christianity version of events. I am a very open person and I am open to just about anything. Whose to say mermaids have just existed for a very long time. Scientists always go straight for evolution, avoiding the creation theory. Maybe they have always been here. Or maybe it is both. Maybe there are some creatures, like Darwin's finches that evolved, maybe there are creatures that were created. We don't really know.

Oh come on...Department of Justice. Just let me believe in mermaids. I hope that since they are secretly hiding the truth that they are not going to destroy them because of it. If mermaids are in fact real and the Department of Justice is really trying to hide the truth. Why ban these websites? What horrible impact will it have on the people to believe in mermaids that they have to ban these websites? It is not going to kill me if I believe in mermaids. That is one question I have for the Department of Justice. If they are not real, why do they care about these websites??????

To think we are the only concious being is more of the "normal" mental condition that is shared from the small time thief to high ranking government official. The mermaids are not as important as the the fact that the killing of ANYTHING is an unconcious act. The inner intelligence of the human body creates a fever when fighting desease, with that said "Global Warming" seems to be the fever of the earth and WE ARE ALL the virus. Intelligence in the service of madness is the history of man. Why kill one person with a bat when you can kill thousands or maybe millions with a bomb. Please argue with this view so you can be identified.

The domain name seizure is not authentic. A simple search of meta tags and source findings reveal the page and the jpg properties of the supposed government 'seizure' to be a creation of W3.Org, www.W3.org

I just watched the program on Animal Planet. I thought it was a Halloween prank. It seems that a lot of money was spent on this program. Then again I see how much money is being spent on the current election and much of that is fiction as well.

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...no matter how i word or explain this people are gonna think and im gonna sound crazy...believe that there is an unexplained creature/animal that resembles humans in the top eight inches of its back large squared shoulders with light blue/grey skin and apparently while hunting swans doesnt seem to have any problem coming on shore and making a bunch of noise sounds like a growling click...for this to even be a thought there must be many many creatures...if a race of humanoid creatures were discovered in the oceans oil rigs would be shut down ,shipping, deep sea mining ....stop hiding the truth from the world in every depiction of us and them for thousands of years thousands of different pictures,drawings,woodcuts it seemed we were always at odds , fighting , killing you wonder why these creatures dont present themselves to idiots....and why apparently theyre a threat to those in power and hey why exactly is the navy developing a weapon that destroys flesh underwater? really extreme fishing even a really big underwater speaker isnt going to do half the damage to an enemy sub that one torpedo would do....i cant be the only one ...Ray inRI @ yah oo. com

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